At least 29 Palestinians in Gaza have contracted the new coronavirus, the Health Ministry in Gaza said on Thursday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Yousef Abu al-Reesh, Gaza’s deputy health minister, said in a press conference that 29 infections were reported among the new returnees who recently arrived from Egypt via the Rafah crossing and they tested positive while in quarantine.

The health authorities are investigating if those infected patients have contacted others in Gaza, he added.

With these new infections, the total cases in Palestine — in the occupied West Bank and Gaza — stand at 602.

In the Gaza Strip, hospitals that were once overwhelmed by gunshot wounds and amputations are now gearing up for a very different challenge in a densely populated, coastal enclave of two million Palestinians, many living in refugee camps.